Charlie Schouten

Demolition of the fire-damaged car park on Kings Dock is set to open up opportunities for the redevelopment of the site, with options on the table including a new five-star hotel, Place North West understands.

Liverpool City Council has drafted in Willmott Dixon to manage the demolition of the car park, which was severely damaged by a fire on New Year’s Eve. The fire destroyed almost all of the 1,305 cars parked in the facility.

It is understood that demolition is the only option for the council-owned site, which has now been earmarked for alternative uses. A new hotel is believed to be the council’s favoured option at this stage, reacting to increased demand for hotel space at ACC Liverpool. The conference and performance complex already has a hotel, the 216-bedroom Pullman which completed in 2016.

The council is yet to make a formal decision on the next steps for the site, but demolition is likely to commence in the coming months.

The fire has also left the arena with a shortfall of 1,600 car parking spaces.

Car parking is likely to be accommodated elsewhere, and the council still considering a number of different sites. Speeding up the construction of a multi-storey car park as part of YPG’s Monarch’s Quay scheme is one option, while surface car parking at an alternative site is another.

There is still surface parking available next to the building at Kings Dock, although planning consent was given in December to the development of a call centre for The Contact Company on the plot, which developer YPG has previously said it hoped to start building in the first half of this year.